WA Market Update – 05/04/2019

There have been a few rain events this week throughout the cropping belt which has taken a bit more pressure off for some. Although the falls haven’t been game changers by any stretch of the imagination, it is continuing to build the moisture profile as we close in on seeding. With recent rains and on the back of a wet March, seeding has actually started for some farmers in the south of the state. At this early stage most, if not all, hectares have been planted to either oats or canola and it’s pretty safe to assume growers will take advantage of the head start and use these paddocks for grazing. There isn’t much to be excited about on the eight-day forecast but if we get some decent falls beyond that we can expect some activity beginning in most parts of the state.

Old crop wheat numbers were softer again this week with APW1 in Kwinana down $2/MT for the week to $323/MT FIS. Barley suffered a similar fate with feed bids down $2/MT to $283/MT FIS. Malt bids were unchanged but this week’s news update informing growers of a potential decrease in international marketing opportunities for malt barley during the 2019/20 season sent some negative price signals for new crop barley. Whether this news will impact planned rotations remains to be seen but we’d expect agronomic benefits to outweigh price at this stage.